Sunday, January 20, 2019

PRESS STATEMENT BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
COUNCIL ON ATIKU’S CLANDESTINE VISIT TO THE U.S

In our press release issued on Sunday, December 30, 2018, titled “WHEN THE THIEF IS SHOUTING THIEF”: THE CASE
OF ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR”, we correctly predicted as follows: “By running for President of Nigeria, Atiku intends to
get some immunity from prosecution. Already he is hoping to obtain a visa to visit the US, as a guest of the State department, a concession that the US will grant to a Presidential candidate of Africa’s biggest Nation”.

Therefore, we were not surprised by his visit to the U.S. For us, this visit is really a non-event considering the issues involved in the forthcoming election.

However, we have bad
news for those who think this is a momentous event for Atiku Abubakar : the visit was nothing but a downright catastrophe
because rather than dispel the fact of indictments hanging
over his head, it further confirms and reinforces those facts for the following reasons:
(1) The visit had all the trappings of a fugitive sneaking into
America under a “special diplomatic waiver”. For the candidate
of the major opposition party in Nigeria, it is an absolute
disaster that the visit was not announced ahead of time in
Nigeria, with his programmes and itinerary clearly spelt out, the decent and customary minimum standard of such visits.
This culminated in his close aides issuing conflicting
statements about the visit when he was already on his way
there. In fact, one of them called Paul Ibe actually spoke to
the Press that his principal was nowhere near America! Such
was the secrecy of the planning and execution of that visit. (2) It is shameful that a presidential candidate of a major
opposition party in Africa’s most populous country would visit
America, and the international press was kept in the dark:
There was NO SINGLE press conference with the array of
international media and correspondents required for such ‘high-
profile’ visit. Atiku knows he has no moral stamina to withstand the avalanche of hard questions bordering on his
sordid past in America. In fact, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims
he visited the Voice of America (VOA) but only did two
carefully-packaged interviews with the Hausa service and the
English to Africa program - platforms that have always been
available to him back home. How strange! In fact, both the Twitter handle (@VOANews) and official website of VOA did
not mention any such visit of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to their
station. For news hounds, you would agree with us that such
an ‘important personality’ cannot walk into a news premises
without reporters swooping on him. Whatever he went to do in
the premises of the VOA must have been a carefully-arranged private visit for the photo-ops, which was intended to scam
Nigerians. What more evidence do we need of a “sneak-in-
sneak-out” arrangement than this?.
(3) For a candidate who claims he wants to “get Nigeria
working again” (a meaningless phrase) to sneak into America
without meeting major players in private businesses is a curiosity and an indication that we are dealing with a candidate
with a dodgy and questionable character. He claims he went to
the U.S Chamber of Commerce, which is supposed to be a
business federation. Again, the Twitter handle (@USChamber)
and the website of the organization make no mention of the
visit of such an ‘important personality’ to them. Maybe their famous American lobbyist on a salary of N9million per month
can help them ‘do something’ about this after this press
statement.
(4) It is also an anomaly that the candidate of the major
opposition party in Nigeria sneaked into America and did not
meet large sections of political leaders of similar ideologies and persuasions towards which he claims to be inclined. For
all his claim to be going to America to meet “U.S Government
officials”, he only succeeded in meeting a certain
“Congressman Smith”, who is the equivalent of a member of
the House of Representatives in Nigeria. You would agree with
us that as dignified and respected as the office of a Member of the House of Representatives is, an important personality
cannot come to Nigeria on an official visit and claim he has
met the “Nigerian government officials” after he pays a private
visit to that Member. For all we know, the Congressman Smith
may just be a private friend of Dr. Bukola Saraki or Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar. That reminds us of Atiku’s famous legislator friend he threw under the bus, Williams Jefferson, who taught us how
to hide laundered money ( which was meant for Atiku
Abubakar) in the deep freezer when the cops came knocking
on his door!
In all, it is very obvious now that the so-called American trip
was a desperate trip for photo-ops. Throughout the trip, Atiku Abubakar looked cagey, frightened and on edge. We note the
close support always provided by Senate President Bukola
Saraki like a comforting guardian angel. The visit and
arrangements smack of things local yahoo yahoo boys do to
scam their victims. It is utterly disgusting and puerile that it
has been brought into a serious political contest. Rather than being the highpoint of his campaign, the American
visit is indeed the lowest watermark of Atiku Abubakar’s
campaign. It was a political and P.R disaster. The statements
he released from there only to the Nigerian Press back home
that he intends to alienate other countries and do business
with the U.S is actually the antithesis to our policy of non- alignment.
For the information of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his handlers,
Nigerians know that Nigeria is already working again for
everyone and not for a few. As confirmed by him in a town-hall
meeting a few days before his disastrous trip to the U.S, he
said he wants to “get Nigeria working again” only for few of his friends who he claims he wants to make rich. If he cannot get
them rich now from his private businesses, it is obvious that
he is referring to the use of public funds to make his friends
rich. Nigerians should judge for themselves whether this is the
type of President they want.
Finally, whoever advised Atiku Abubakar to undertake that trip to America just destroyed his entire campaign and exposed
him for who he is – a questionable character who has
continued to leave huge questions over his suitability for the
highest office of the land and as such cannot be trusted by the
Nigerian people.
Thank you. FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)
Director, Strategic Communications,
APC Presidential Campaign Council.
(Official Spokesperson).

This is the perfect example of wailing. Now I believe what OBJ said about this administration being desperate to win at all cost.